Pope Francis condemned the right to die movement on Saturday, stating that "playing with life" in ways such as abortion and euthanasia is sinful against God's creation and not an act of dignity, Catholic News Agency reported.
Deeming the acts as a "false sense of compassion," Francis stressed to a group of Catholic doctors that each human life, no matter in what condition, is meant to be sacred.
"We're living in a time of experimentation with life. But a bad experiment... (we're) playing with life," the Pope told an audience of 4,000 Catholic doctors gathered in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall on Saturday.
Earlier this month, an American woman, Brittany Maynard, made national headlines for her decision to carry out an assisted suicide and die with dignity since she had been suffering from terminal brain cancer, the Associated Press reported. Her actions had been described as "reprehensible" by the Vatican's top bioethics official.
However, Francis did not mention Maynard's case or refer to the 29-year-old's decision to end her life on November 1, 2014, with drugs prescribed by her doctor.
While denouncing euthanasia in general, he also condemned abortion, in vitro fertilization (or "the scientific production of a child") and embryonic stem cell research (or "using human beings as laboratory experiments to presumably save others.")
"This is playing with life," he said in an address given to members of the Italian Catholic Doctors Association in celebration of their 70th anniversary. "Beware, because this is a sin against the creator, against God the creator."
The belief that abortion is helpful for women, that euthanasia is "an act of dignity," or that it's "a scientific breakthrough to 'produce' a child (who is) considered a right instead of accepted as a gift" are all part of conventional wisdom that offers a false sense of compassion, he said.
Additionally, Francis also urged doctors to take "courageous and against-the-grain" decisions to uphold church teaching on the dignity of life, even if it requires resorting to conscientious objection, according to CNA.
Some aspects of medical science "seem to diminish the ability to 'take care' of the person, especially when they are suffering, fragile and defenseless," he said, explaining that advancements in science and medicine can only enhance human life if they maintain their ethical roots.
"Attention to human life, particularly to those in the greatest difficulty, that is, the sick, the elderly, children, deeply affects the mission of the Church," the Bishop of Rome added.
